Mark Stark

Natural Dexterous Hand | St. Louis, Missouri

You may recognize Mark Stark’s invention, the affordable prosthetic hand that works as a system of pulleys rather than robotics, from the cover of Popular Science magazine. Mark’s invention came from his realization of the limitations of the prosthetic hook that his friend wears. Mark designed a hand that is extremely functional yet more affordable than costly robotic hands currently on the market.

His journey to invention started when he was a child growing up in St. Louis, designing and building go-carts with his older brother. By the time he was nine years old, he was the neighborhood “fix it” boy, and he still enjoys fixing things today. His path to working in engineering wasn’t the easiest; Mark did poorly in high school until he moved to a technical school and took Engineering Drafting. It was the days of designing with a pencil and paper that inspired him to pursue a degree in engineering twenty years later while working full time. Now Mark holds four company patents and is currently a Mechanical Designer, taking his early passion and successfully turning it into a viable career.

Mark came to Everyday Edisons through sister company, Edison Nation. While searching for information on inventing, he came across the community of online inventors and, as he says, “never looked back.” His hopes for his prosthetic hand are long-term and far-reaching: he would like to see it improve thousands of lives, and with the initial feedback he has received, he has good reason to believe that the Natural Dexterous Hand will do so.

“Don’t try to do it all yourself. Inventing is hard work, not a quick buck.
Get help, but do your homework before choosing your partners, and don’t give up.”

Mark also gives two pieces of advice to those hoping to become inventors one day: